The Scent of Hope
by TessieIII
Summary: After the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry meets little Teddy Lupin for the first time.


Okay, so, assuming that anyone actually reads this amongst the mass story submissions that are common here at the Harry Potter forum, its something I thought everyone would enjoy.

I want to add more to it, each one featuring Teddy as he ages, and eventually Harry's children as well. What do you think? Please take time to review!-Tessie:)

I am not Joanne Rowling, and thus I make no claim upon any Harry-Potter related characters.

* * *

It had been four days since Lord Voldermort had been vanquished by none other than the Boy-Who-Lived. Witches and Wizards everywhere rejoiced, grieved for those lost in the Final Battle, and set to work restoring their world to its normal state of being. Harry could hardly believe it all had happened; He would now be able to live his life free of the tragedy that had consumed the first seventeen years of his existence.

And yet, his work was not finished.

Having Apparated several feet away from the Tonks house, he straightened his robes and took a breath. He could have just flooed over, but that would have been a bit too personal at a time like this. Andromeda had lost the two most important people in her life, in addition to a third that she'd grown to love just as much. Now she was alone, and no doubt feeling more pain than anyone around her could imagine. At any rate, he didnt want to add his sudden presence in her sitting room to the mix.

Although shed come to Hogwarts to identify Lupin and Tonk's bodies, he'd been unable to catch her alone for a word. Deciding it better to leave the matter alone, he'd offered he the same words of comfort as everyone else, although he knew they were meaningless to her ears. At the least, he was able to let her know how much he'd cared for Lupin and Tonks, and how grateful he was for Ted's help on the one occasion that they'd met. For the moment, it was all he could do.

Now, standing inches from the door, he knocked, hoping he wasnt disturbing the baby, and waited for an answer.

Andromeda arrived before him, looking haggard and dreary, but maintaining the same quiet and calm demeanor so opposite of her sister. Her features softened into a slight smile as she invited him in, and it occurred to Harry how difficult it must have been for her to smile at a time when her life was in such disarray.

"I hope I haven't woken him…" Harry whispered as he followed her down the hall. "I know I probably shouldn't have knocked so loudly..."

"Quite alright, Mr. Potter…" She said calmly. "He's in the nursery."

She led Harry up a staircase between the sitting room and kitchen, where a narrow hall on the second floor gave way to three doors, which Harry assumed were all bedrooms. Andromeda continued forward toward the last room, which was also the smallest. As he approached it, Harry saw a nameplate that had been bewitched so that its letters repeatedly mixed themselves up, and in the correct order formed the phrase _Teddy'__s Room_.

Charmed blue, the walls of the nursery reflected the light from the window, under which stood a white crib. Harry could see the chubby little arms reaching upwards out of it, toward a mobile above the crib which bore ornaments in the shape of a dog, a stag, and a wolf.

"Teddy, you've got a visitor." Crooned Andromeda as she lifted the child, barely bigger than Hermione's cat Crookshanks, out from under a blanket.

"He's little." Harry blurted, for it was all he could think of to say. Out loud, it sounded incredibly stupid.

Cradling the baby light brown haired in her arms, Andromeda sat down in the rocking chair beside the cot. "Yes. Well, you should have seen in when he was first born. Remus could fit him in his pocket..."

Harry looked into her eyes as she trailed off and knew that she has not meant to bring up Lupin. For a second, he thought he saw he wipe away a tear. Thinking it better not to upset her, Harry changed the subject.

"His hair still changing colors, then?" Even as the words left his mouth, the infant's hair deepened to a shade of plum.

Nodding, the dark haired Witch stood, moving toward Harry. "He usually does that when he's hungry. I'm going to go get him a bottle. Will you hold him for a moment?"

Glancing from the baby to his Grandmother and back again, Harry shook his head slightly. "Er, I dont think it's a good idea. I've never really held a baby before..."

Who was he kidding? The Durselys never let him out of the house as a kid; this was probably the first time he'd ever been within a hundred feet of a baby.

"Oh, come now. He's your Godson, the whole reason you came here was to meet him." She replied, not nearly as worried as he was. Before Harry could protest further, Mrs. Tonks had ushered him into the rocker and positioned Teddy in his arms.

"Wow." Harry muttered as Mrs. Tonks left the room. The month-old baby staring up at him was nothing like he'd imagined. He looked so much like Remus with his brown eyes, and yet so much of Tonks could be seen in his heart-shaped face. It was then that Harry realized how much courage it took for Andromeda Tonks to look at her Grandson every day. He'd obviously brought her great joy, and yet reminded her of such a great loss.

"Pleased to meet you, Teddy. I'm Harry Potter, your Godfather." The baby only blinked in response, but somehow Harry felt a connection form at that instant. It was his responsibility to make sure that this little boy knew all that there was to know about his parents, that he was never lonely, that someone told him they loved him every day, and that he had someone he could talk to about anything.

"I don't really know much about babies." Harry continued, not really caring if the baby could understand him or not. "I guess you don't know much about being a Wizard…but, that's alright, we can learn together."

Andromeda Tonks surveyed the scene before her prior to entering the room. When Dora and Remus first told her that Harry Potter was to be the baby's Godfather, she'd had her doubts. He'd only just come of age himself, after all. Now, watching the young man who had saved all of Wizarding kind holding her Grandson, she knew that Dora had made the right decision.

"You can come visit him whenever you like." She said, entering the room with the baby's bottle. "He seems to be taking to you, at any rate."

Harry did not reply, instead he continued staring at Teddy, who, Harry thought, was probably wondering where his bottle was.

"I've set up a trust in his name at Gringotts." Harry told Andromeda, remembering his first and foremost reason for needing to talk to her. "With Lupin unable to work most of the time, I thought it would be helpful if you had something. I'll keep adding to it until he comes of age."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. That's more than kind of you." said Mrs. Tonks.

"Call me Harry, plea-"

Andromeda cut him off. "I wonder, would you like to give him his bottle? He usually likes to drift off to sleep afterwards, so it shouldn't be too much trouble."

As before, she didn't bother to wait for his answer. After showing Harry how to feed her Grandson, who had turned his hair black, she conjured a chair next to him and sat down.

"I'm really glad I got to meet him, Mrs. Tonks; I won't let him down, I promise. I'll be there whenever you need me."

He was suddenly aware of the baby's scent, so clean and fresh and warm and new. It was the scent of hope, and it seemed almost intoxicating to Harry. He wished everyone could experience it, for it was the perfect reminder of what they'd fought for. Teddy's parents, like Harry's, had left him with the greatest gift possible: the chance at a safe and happy life.


End file.
